Tactical Genius, Just as Planned
by Skryr
Summary: The Chaos God and the Changer of the Ways Lord Tzeentch seeks a challenge. But alas, he has not found such a brilliant mind amongst humanity yet, at least, not until he stumbles upon the Lord General Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed. The ensuing chess battle is the foundation of a feud that will last millennia to come.


TACTICAL GENIUS, JUST AS PLANNED:

I decided to do something lighthearted (and by lighthearted, I mean spine-destroyingly intense, as none can match the glory of the Chaos God Tzeentch and hope to stand), and I had stumbled upon a similar story circulating concerning the Highest Strategist Tzeentch and a mortal general named Ursarkar Creed.

Enjoy!

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The table was ready. The ancient game of chess was set upon it, awaiting its purpose of being the ultimate game changer.

The ultimate game breaker.

The empyrean fire swirled about the portal from the Warp as it appeared in the small room. Though the Chaos Gods rarely revealed themselves to mere mortals, this particular instance had been quite exceptional, even to the brilliant and unfettered mind of the Changer of the Ways, Tzeentch, the Master of all Fortune and the Architect of Fate.

He had long pondered and awaited this moment, to meet upon the psychological field of battle with another mind that could challenge him. Long ago had He been bored with the best strategic minds of the Imperium of Man, expecting at least one herculean figure to rise up from the insipid mortals, and He had almost given up hope of this completely until the mighty shadow of one such Achilles had risen.

Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed. Master of strategy. The ultimate tactical genius. Humanity had managed to do the impossible: it had surprised the Chaos God with its resilience at last, producing a human of at least higher caliber a mind than any other before him.

Though his stature was rather short, his hair well kept but worn by the long hours of war and strategizing, and his face pitted with the many scars of someone well-versed in the art of combat. Yet all of this paled in comparison to the labyrinth of a mind that the Chaos God Tzeentch sensed behind the simple frame of flesh and bone. A mind that could only hope to keep up with His own, He was sure, but all the same…

The Great Conspirator examined the wooden board beneath His ever-changing figure. It was the simplest game of war ever conceived of, and ever jealous was He that He Himself had not ever invented such a thing. It was the game of kings and peons alike, but the greatest glory of victory could only be found and achieved through this task.

A thousand Space Marines could die by Tzeentch's mighty hands, and this would change nothing. But if He could defeat the highest of strategists, the tactical genius of the millennium, then perhaps humanity would at last surrender.

Though He did not concern Himself regularly with emotions used by humans, He could help but release a sigh of contentment. Everything was proceeding just as planned.

Lord General Creed made the first move. A bold claim into the board, a foray into the unknown, and a pitiful start to a game that the Chaos God Tzeentch was sure of His own victory in. The Chaos God retaliated with a pawn of his own, moving to an adjacent square. He hoped to see the mortal match such a daring and impressive move.

The Lord General commissioned a knight, moving in its majestic l-shape pattern as it always did, but with a certain grace that Tzeentch had only seen when He Himself had played the noble game amongst his Lords of Change.

A bishop, in rather amusing irony, served Tzeentch as well as any Sorcerer of Chaos and demolished the pawn established by the pathetic human, and Tzeentch imagined a demoralizing agony overtaking the foolish mind of His opponent. Surely now surrender was imminent and the killing blow swift for the taking.

But the Lord General acted in a daring move of devotion and strategy. He maneuvered his own knight to slay the Chaos Bishop that Tzeentch appointed for the assassination of a pawn, but the Chaos God was not fazed. Casualties were neither avoidable nor noteworthy.

Another pawn of the Chaos God advanced to take the place of its fallen comrade in arms, and again joined the graveyard of fallen minions lost in the course of conquest.

The war continued on for several minutes, though to the Lord of Time and Change, it could have been hours, days, perhaps even years. A battle until the end of eternity, leaving only abject destruction in its wake. Excellent.

Eventually, the battle was nearly finished in favor of the Architect of Fate Tzeentch. He spread His essence in pride and even arrogance. This mortal had foolishly deigned to challenge Him, the invincible mind of the universe, the Master and Commander of all Strategy.

The words uttered in a language the human could understand would shatter the strongest of resolves and cripple the most braced of sanities. "Checkmate." The Chaos God was beside Himself with pleasure, perhaps even something to rival that of Slaanesh. Nothing could compare to the sublime feeling of crushing humanity's highest of highs, the Lord General Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed.

But instead of spontaneously combusting, breaking down in psychological disorder, or pledging ultimate and undying allegiance to the obviously Superior Being, the mortal merely smiled. It was a mischievous, dastardly smirk. But why? Even the brilliance of the Chaos God Tzeentch could not fathom-

And then He laid sight upon it. A minion of the Lord General's was now visible behind the King Sorcerer of Tzeentch, and minion whose engraving and markings were clear: a Titan Warhound stood behind the King Sorcerer. How could He have not seen it? It had been in His eyes the entire time! Trickery?!

Nay, it be not trickery, for no one, not even the most brilliant of mortals, would dare cheat the Changer of the Ways. No, this was something more. Something intangible and divine, something that even the God Emperor Himself would not dare dream of. The ability to move such a Titan Warhound into that vulnerable position was unprecedented in any situation conceivable of. It would take only the best of a tactical genius to do so.

And then the Chaos God of Magic and Time, the Changer of the Ways, the Architect of Fate, the Great Conspirator and the Master of All Fortune let forth a bellowing scream so terrible that any man other than the greatest Lord General Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed would have instantly been smited with the sonic boom that ensued.

"CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"

But the man in question merely stood, barely affecting his miniature stature. He smiled once more, and clapped his hands in a slow, torturously slow fashion, one that mocked and shamed every particle of the Chaos God Tzeentch's essential being.

"Just as planned."

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I hope you enjoyed this tale of strategy as much as I did writing it.

Rate and review!


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